[Digger Dan]

I read somewhere that one way to plant potatoes is to cover the ground with weed barrier, make slits and plant seed potatoes directly into hole. No earthing up needed!

Has anyone tried this and what type of yield do you get?

Regards,
Digger Dan.

[nemo]

i say it being done
but he firstly cut the grass as tight as he could then he applied a good layer of well rotted manure and seaweed then he covered this with plastic this was hemmed in on both sides with a spade to prevent it from being blown away then he used a bulb planter to make a hole in the plastic and to remove a plug of soil .a seed potato was dropped into the hole and some soil covered it. it worked good no earthing up but slug damage can be a problem i was told

[Digger Dan]

In the end I decided to stick with the traditional method and plant in open soil but I did try a couple couple of potato bags to compare yields.



I used strong recycling bags as they were bigger (60litres+) and cheaper than the purpose sold 'Potato Grow Bags', e.g. http://www.johnstowngardencentre.ie/potato-patio-planter---pack-of-3-/haxnicks_potatoplanterpd.aspx

I bought the Recycling Bags in Woodies for €3.99 each and just put a few holes in the bottom for drainage.

I planted them out at the end of March and harvested them in early July, 15 weeks. The variety is 'Red Duke of York'.



The yield was low enough as I only had 2.5Kg from 3 tubers planted but the flavour was excellent!

I am curious what results other gardeners have with growing potatoes in bags or barrels? All the advertisements for potato grow bags show bags virtually exploding with potatoes. I would be interested to know if anyone has achieved such bumper crops (without having to intensively feed all along).

As a comparison I can across a report by the RHS on yields they had from a range of early potatoes http://www.rhs.org.uk/RHSWebsite/files/0d/0d52c1ec-6bf7-41fe-91ec-7fecd2fbae74.pdf. It does show that a more modest yield of 1.0-1.5Kg/plant is the norm for early/salad crops?

Digger Dan